Louisiana Maneuvers (1940-1941)

I read an article in Wikipedia that rated the kubelwagon higher than the jeep, and the kublewagon was only 2 wheel drive. Before someone accuses me of blasphemy, understand I am only the messenger here....

 

AHHHHHH... but as I stated before. I have yet to see anything showing the same as what they did with the Jeep in the photos LOL. And of course not many showing the same types of versitility either .

 

That's true, not many pictures of the kubelwagon being put through the motions available. Maybe the beginnings of a new thread, the jeep vs. the kubelwagon perhaps? Who knows?

 

There already is one. The jeep wins hands down.


http://www.ww2f.com/weapons-wwii/12372-jeep-vs-k-belwagen.html

 

Thanks for the link and the head's-up. My search function was "broken." Wait, now it works! Hey, the jeep WAS better than the kublewagon after all.

 

Pssstttt don't let some hear ya say that LOL.

 

What, the search function or the jeep over the kubelwagon?

 

The latter .

 

Heavens Forbid that we would claim to have something better then the awesome Germans LOL.

 

Well, since the SS didn't develope it and make it famous, and it was not prominently featured in video games or a mini-series, there's not much chance to that happening you know....

 

Ahhhhh....True. True .

 

This thread has served its purpose and will be closed. Thank you!

 

I couldn't imagine something like that happening today in the US. Could anyone see the US army sitting on a street in some small town in say a Hummer with a TOW launcher and a .50 machinegun with blank ammo participating in a "wargame" while the locals drive nonchalantly by....?

 

Robert Sterling Rush in his Hell in Hürtgen Forest: The Ordeal and Triumph of an American Infantry Regiment. (University Press of Kansas, 2001) says that the 4th Infantry Division participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers. But in Christopher R. Gabel in his The U.S. Army GHQ Maneuvers of 1941 does not list the 4th among the units in the exercise.

Does anyone have evidence that the 4th was at the maneuvers?

 

This is a pretty damned old thread but I'll give it a try: Have you checked the regimental history of the RCTs of the 4th ID? Maybe some elements were constituted from other divisions that did participate.

 

Here's what I found in World War II Order of Battle (Stanton);

The 4th Infantry Division was activated 1 Jun 40 as the 4th Division at Ft. Benning, Ga and re-organized as the 4th Division (Motorized) on 1 Aug 40. On 11 Jul 41 the 4th Infantry Division moved to the town of Dry Prong, La for the Louisiana Manuevers, returning to Ft. Benning on 27 Aug 41.

There were 19 US Army divisions and over 400,000 men were involved in the operation. I'd think that it would be safe say that the 4th ID was in the middle of it.

Later in the fall of 1941, the 4th ID was also involved in the Carolina Manuevers as well (30 Oct - 3 Dec 41).

 

Bump this thread, some nice photos and stories, plus some information.

I had not previously come across a complete or even partial list of maneuvers but I knew Stanton usually included a mention of which maneuver each division participated. The following is a list compiled by scanning each division entry. I am systematic but not careful so I expect some errors.

The GHQ maneuvers of 1941, which is the topic of this thread, were free-form where GHQ set the situation and the opposing Army commanders had to make their campaign plans. While this tested leadership and staff work, many units ended up doing a lot of maneuvering and no fighting. Later maneuvers would be somewhat scripted so that commanders, staffs and units would get a full field training exercise.

I did not include National Guard and Regular Army maneuvers of 1940 and 1941.

The divisions in the early 1943 Louisiana maneuvers seems thin (two). I noted the 38th ID was stationed at one of the many Louisiana camps in that time period but cannot confirm their participation.


GHQ Maneuvers 1941

1941 September - Louisiana
1stAD, 2dAD
1stCD
1stID, 2dID, 5thID, 6thID, 27thID, 31stID, 32dID, 33dID,
34thID, 35thID, 36thID, 37thID, 38thID, 43dID, 45thID

1941 November - Carolinas
1stAD, 2dAD
1stID, 4thID(mot), 8thID, 9thID, 28thID,
29thID, 30thID, 31stID, 43dID, 44thID


Carolina Maneuver Area

VI Corps - July/August 1942
2dAD, 4thID(mot), 29thID, 36thID


Louisiana Maneuver Area

VIII Corps - July/August 1942
6thAD, 1stCD, 2dID, 31stID

IV Corps - September/October 1942
7thAD, 28thID, 38thID

Third Army

No. 1 - February 1943
77thID, 90thID (38thID ?)

No. 2 - April/May 1943
85thID, 93dID (38thID ?)

No. 3 - July 1943
11thAD, 31stID, 88thID, 95thID

No. 4 - October 1943
84thID, 99thID, 102dID, 103dID

No. 5 - November/December 1943
9thAD, 86thID, 89thID, 97thID

Fourth Army

No. 6 - March 1944
8thAD, 44thID, 92dID


Tennessee Maneuver Area

I Corps - September/October 1942
4thAD, 6thID(mot), 8thID(mot)

Second Army

No. 1 - May/June 1943
5thAD, 79thID, 81stID, 101stAbnD

No. 2 - July 1943
10thAD, 80thID, 83dID

No. 3 - October 1943
12thAD, 30thID, 94thID, 98thID

No. 4 - December 1943/January 1944
14thAD, 35thID, 87thID, 100thID

No. 5 - February/March 1944
26thID, 78thID, 106thID, 17thAbnD


Desert Maneuver Area - California

II Armored Corps - August/September 1942
3dAD, 5thAD, 7thID(mot)

No. 1 - December 1942/January 1943
4thAD, 6thAD, 6thID(mot)

No. 2 - April 1943
7thAD, 8thID(mot), 77thID, 33dID

No. 3 - August/September 1943
79thID, 81stID, 85thID, 90thID, 93dID

No. 4 - November 1943
11thAD, 80thID, 95thID


Oregon -

Fourth Army - August 1941
3dID, 40thID, 41stID

IV Corps - October 1943
13thAD, 91stID, 96thID, 104thID